Method of capping bottles.



PATBNTBD APR. 30, 1907. H. L. FULENWIDER L S. C. da W. G. BOND.

METHOD 0F GAPPING BOTTLES. APPLICATION rrLED AUG.13,1006.

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Nr1.852.323. PATBNTBD APR. 30, 1907.

H. L. FULENWIDBR & S. C. & W. G. BOND.

METHOD OF CAPPING BOTTLES.

APPLICATION rILnb AUG.13.190G.

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U'NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY L. EULENWIDER, SAMUEL o. BOND, AND WILLIAM G. BOND, vOE WIL-`MINGTON, DELAWARE, AssIGNoRs To NATIONAL CORK AND SEAL OOM- PANY, orWILMINGTON, DELAWARE, .A CORPORATION OE DELAWARE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented April 30, 1907.

Application iiled August 13,1906. Serial No. 380,449.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it), known that we, HENRY L. FULEN- WIDER, SAMUEL C. BOND, andWILLIAMS. BOND, residing atVVilmin ton, in the county of Newcastle andState O Delaware, citizens of the United States, have invented ordiscovered certain new and useful4 Im rovements in Methods of Cap ingBott es, of which improvements the follbwing is a specification.

The invention described herein relates to an improved method in securingsealing caps on bottles. These caps are provided with a packinggenerally consisting of disks formed of a yielding material such ascork, which will not be affected by the contents of the It has been thepractice in applying these caps to the bottle to pressnthe cap towardthe bottle with suiiiciant force to cause the disk to seat hermeticallyin the end of the bottle neck. The anges of the cap are then bentinwardly under the rib or bead on the' ,gases in the bottle wi l besufficient to force the disk from its seat, the straightening of the-bulge or fold inthe ange permitting an un- .seating movement of thedisk. -Even in no fold or bulge is formed in the ca flange, a

cap would permit the escape of gases from the bottle. A

It is the object of this invention to subject the metal of the cap whenap lying to the bottle, to a stretching within t e limits of elasticityso that the packing disk will be subjected at all times to a seatingpressure. In thus subjecting the metal of the cap to tension, allpossibility of forming folds or bulges is avoided, and any shrinkage orcontraction of the packing disk will be compensated forl The inventionis hereinafter more fully describedand claimed.

y In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a sec-l tional elevation of a portion of a machine adaptedto the practice of our invention; Figs. 2, 3 & 4 are views showing .theparts of the machine directly ocpprative to secure the'.

cap onthe bottle, at erent stages ofthe operation; Figs. 5, 6, and 7 aresectional views, illustrating another form ol.` ap aratus for carryingoutour improved metho.l

In the practice of our inventionthe top of the cap is preferably madeflat as shown in Figs. 2 and 5 and the portion of the presser head 23 inFig. 2 or 5 in Fi 5 operative on the cap is so shaped that W en pressingthe cap on the bottle, it will have an outward stretching action on thetop of the cap and will tend to force the outer edge of the top of thecap downwardly around the lip'of the This result is produced when usinglbottle. caps With iat tops by making the face of the presser head 23concave and of such adiameter relative to that of the caps, that theedge a of the head will bear on the cap closely adjacent to theperiphery of the top thereof slightly before or in advance of the end ofits cap seating movement.4

After the cap has been forced down over the end of the bottle neck,seating the acking disk hermetically and stretched or p aced undertension, the tools or parts designed to act on the ilange of the cap,are brought into operation. These tools or parts, i. e., the spinningrollers 21 ofthe construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and the wipinglingers 11 of the construction shown in Figs. 5 to 7, are so shiftedduring the seating of the cap that when the cap is seated, they willbear upon the flange in or approximately in a plane indicated by theline y-y passing through-the apex of the rib or bead b of the bottle.These tools are now caused to move down along and under the bead bbearing at all times With suiicient force on the flange lto cause it tobear smoothly on the bead but also to subject it to sufficient tensionto produce a stretching of the metal within the limits of elasticity.This pull along the flange is a continuation of the radial pull effeotedby the presser heads in seating the packing disk so that practically thewhole cap is stretched and the metal placed under Y tension so that whenthe cap is anchored by the bending of the edges of the flange underseatin p ull on the packing disk. ,l g 'W e `weydo not li t ourselves toany particular forni or construction of apparatus IOO for the practiceof our improved method, we have shown two desirable forms of machine forthat purpose. The construction shown nFigs. 1 to 4, inclusive, forms thesubject matter of an application filed December 22, 1905, Serial No.292,949, and consists as stated in said application of a head A carriedby a sleeve 12a, movable in tubular standard 13a. This head isyieldingly supported by a spring 14a, and suitable means are employedfor movinv down the head and the parts carried thereby, said meansoperating through the sleeve 9a, all as described and shown in saidapplication. The head carries a holding rod, 18, which is surrounded bysleeves 19 and 20. One of these sleeves carries the spinning 4rollersand the other has mounted thereon means for shifting said spinningrollers into operative position as regards the cap to be secured to thebottle. The sleeves, 19 and 20, are rotated by gear wheel 16' throu h apinion 17, the gear wheel being rotate by the shaft 6a. The movement ofthe sleeve 19 for forcing the spinning rollers 21 inward is effected bya lever 2-7, adapted to be shifted by a cam 29 carried by the wheel 16,and the sleeve 20 by a cam ring 33, also carried by the wheel 16. Thepresser head 23 is yieldingly mounted in the holding rod 18, and whenforced down upon the bottle it takes a firm seat against the holdingrod, as shown in Fig. 3. During the operation of securing a cap on abottle, the presser head first operates as heretofore stated to stretchthe metal of the top of the cap radially and hold it in such stretchedcondition until the flanges have been anchored under the bead, b, of thebottle neck. As soon as the cap has been firmly seated the rollershaving attained a position shown in Fig. 3 bear upon the cap in orapproximately in the plane of the line y--y, passing through the a ex ofthe bead b. During the operation o cap ing, the rollers arecarriedrapidly aroun( the presser head and the cap on the bottle, and afterhaving attained the desired bearing on the cap,' as stated, a furtherdownward movement along the flange and inward under the bead is given tothe rollers, so that they will' spin the metal in against and under thebead of the bottle and exert a. stretching action which as heretoforestated 1s a continuation of the stretching action produced by thepresser head on the top of the cap. y

The construction shown in Figs. 5 to 7, inclusive, forms thesubject-matter of an ap lication filed August 20th, 1906, Serial o.331,305. In this construction as stated in said application, the head 1is moved downward, so that the conical recess in its lower end will passover the top of a bottle, and the presser block 5 bears u on the top ofthe cap as heretofore describe so as .to'effect a radial stretching ofthe metal of the top. By the continued movement of the stem 4, theplunger 2 is moved down, compressing the spring 8 and causing thefingers 11 to move inwardly and also to turn toward a horizontalposition, until the portions operative on the flange of the ca bear uponsuch flange in the plane indicate( by the line y-y passing through theapex of the bead b. Thereafter the plunger and head 1 move downtogether, the plunger having a slight downward Inovement independent ofthe head, so that the fingers or tools 11 will have a wiping movementalong the flange of the cap, ressinor it down and along under the bea b.T is stretching movement is a prolongation of the stretching actionproduced on the top of the cap by the presser head 5, and places themetal of the cap under such a tension that when the cap is anchored bythe bending of the edges of the flange under the bead, there will be aconstant seating pull on the packing disk in the cap. It ischaracteristic of both the spinning operation effected by the machineshown in Figs. 1 to 4 and the wiping action effected by the constructionshown 1n Figs. 5 to 7, that the metal of the cap is smoothly and evenlyapplied to the bottle, and also laced as described under such a tensionwithin the elastic limits of the metal that there is a constant seatingpull exerted by the metal so that any contraction or shrinkage of thepacking disk will be immediately` compensated for, and the hermetic sealof the bottle preserved intact.

It will be observed that our im roved method can be employed either witcaps having a bead between the flange and top as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4,or with a cap having a straight flange extending from the top as shownin Figs. 5, 6, and 7.

It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that ourimproved method of sealing bottles can be carried out by forms orconstructions of machines other than those shown and described herein.

We claiml herein as our invention:

1. The method of applying anged sealing caps to bottles, which consistsin pressing the cap on the top of a bottle mouth, simultaneously forcinthe peripheral edge of the top of the cap ownwardly around the edge ofthe bottle mouth, and then stretching the flange of the cap down andinto locking contact with the bead or locking shoulder on the bottle,whereby the periphery of the cap top- ,and the depending flangeareplaced under strain or tension tending to exert a sealing pressure.

2. The method of applying flangedseahng caps to bottles which consistsin ressmg the cap on the top of the bottle, su jecting the metal of thetop and flange of the cap to a l stretching action within the limits ofelas- TOO IIO

ticity and locking the edges of the flange to the bottle.

3. The method of applying flanged sealing caps to bottles which consistsin pressing the cap on the top of the bottle, and simultaneouslyradially stretching the metal of the top of the cap, stretching themetal along the locking bead of the bottle and locking the edge of theflange under said bead.

4. The method of applying flanged sealing caps to bottles, whichconsists in pressing the cap on the top of the bottle, stretching theHENRY L. FULENWIDER. SAMUEL C. BOND. WILLIAM G. BOND.

Vitnesses:

WILLIAM H. GIBBONS, ARTHUR H. G. GARRETT

